The Mulligan

mul·li·gan - n. A golf shot not tallied against the score, granted in informal play after a poor shot especially from the tee.


Nate Jorgenson, winner of the 2004 Benjamin Franklin Award for Best New Voice in Fiction for his novel Waiting for White Horses, tells the story of a frustrated dentist's search for redemption in his second novel, The Mulligan. 


From the outside, it seems Joe Mix should be happy. He's got a healthy family, a successful practice, and plenty of time for sports cars and leisurely golfing at the country club. But lately the little things have been getting to him, and a new emptiness seems to be overtaking his life. 


Convinced he's feeling something much deeper than a textbook midlife crisis, Joe Mix loads his truck with two packed duffel bags and his dog and calls the office to tell his receptionist he's not coming to work—ever again. In the spirit of Updike's Rabbit, Run, The Mulligan relates Joe Mix's journey with clarity and poignancy, appealing to that part in all of us that wonders what it would be like to get a do-over—to walk away from the mindless day-to-day life in which we've entrenched ourselves to seek something better.